Singapore Industrial Output Falls 0.1%

(RTTNews) - Singapore's industrial production decreased for the first time in six months in February, though marginally, preliminary data from the Economic Development Board revealed on Thursday.

Industrial production dropped 0.1 percent year-on-year in February, reversing a 12.9 percent expansion in January.

All clusters logged output contraction in February from last year, except the electronics segment. The decline was largely due to plant shutdowns during the Lunar New Year period.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, total industrial production advanced 3.9 percent annually in February.

Biomedical manufacturing declined the most by 27.3 percent, and general manufacturing output decreased 5.7 percent due to festive shutdowns. Chemicals output shrank 4.6 percent, driven by the petrochemicals and specialties segments, which were affected by weak demand and plant shutdowns.

Data showed that precision engineering output decreased 3.5 percent, and transport engineering logged a smaller fall of 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, electronics production grew 13.7 percent amid strong AI-related demand.